Rewoven Fate
by Yusagi
Summary: A rewrite of my older fic 'Fate' - If Cloud were not the second SOLDIER to meet Aeris in the church, if the flower girl were intercepted before Cloud could arrive, just how much would change? In the end, what will be left of the world? Compilation non-compliant. Various pairings involved, few will be canon pairings.


AN: So here's the thing. Fate was one of my very first fanfics. It's been twelve years (in azkaban) and to continue the story as it is would be _physically painful_ for anyone who wanted to catch up to a newly updated fic. And if I wanted to fix it like I did TUFG...well I can't. Much more is wrong with it than grammar. Still, it was one of my first works, and so I can't just write it off.

Let's see how a rewrite goes. Many things will be changed. It will still be Fate. An important note for this AU is that while Cloud defeated Sephiroth in the Nibel reactor, he didn't 'kill' him. Sephiroth was able to heal on his own over a great amount of time. The avatar walking around the world is actually him, not a clone body. This AU is for _obvious_ reasons, and I don't feel like changing it for the rewrite.

Another important thing that needs saying now and didn't then - this story comes from 2003/2004. Before Crisis Core. That won't change. I might make a few references here and there (such as the opening, since I needed a last meeting for them anyway), but for the most part put it from your mind. This is a remnant of a time before the compilation. Most important to keep in mind - No Genesis. No Angeal. The history won't be identical to what I wrote before (because I wasn't sure on it then) but it's mostly going to be made up. I'm tempted to keep it Zack Donovan instead of Fair, but, eh. Not important.

The last thing to note that I can think of - original AC material said that K, L, and Y were clones created by Hojo shortly before his monsterfication and were Sephiroth's baby brothers. Later information made them his actual remnants, like a physically splintered personality. Guess which one I'll be going with if and when they show up.

Proper credits - The original version of this story was heavily, deeply inspired and encouraged by the stories 'To Love An Ancient' and 'Path of Seduction', and the works of Ardwynna Morrigu (particularly Paint the Town. That is one of the most fun Crisis Core era stories written before Crisis Core.) - This isn't likely to be much like them, given the time gap, but if you like this it's worth trying those, too.

* * *

 _Rewoven Fate_

 **Chapter 1**

 _I'd like to spend more time with you._

A waste of ink, a waste of pretty paper, a waste of time.

She wasn't angry when she thought about it. He'd fallen out of the sky into her lap like some kind of angel, eyes glowing with mysterious energy that reminded her of the Planet, he'd taken interest in her for reasons that weren't her flowers or her blood. It'd been her turn to fall from the moment they'd met, and he'd had a world to go out and see while she hid underneath a metal plate and feared a sky she wanted more than anything else to fly through.

It was okay that he'd moved on and found other, prettier, more adventurous girls.

She'd have liked to talk to him a little more before he left for good, though.

She liked the way her voice echoed back against her from the walls of the church. The song she liked to hum required more than one person to make it sound right, and an echo made it better than her voice alone. She could be her own audience that way, and while she tended to the only flowers that grew in the desolate ground underneath Midgar, she didn't need to think about the sky or letters that were never read.

She didn't need to think about the day the rain (such as it managed to, underneath a great sheet of metal) carried a chill that made her want to cry.

Wooden doors creaked behind her, and then slammed into the stone wall beside them. The latter caused her to start in surprise - when the Turks came to collect her every time she wandered over here (as if she'd go anywhere else that they needed to worry about) they were always much more careful about the door than that. Long brown hair whipped through the air as she turned her head toward the sound, and she found herself immediately frozen by the sight which met her at the door.

A man. Tall and pale, almost pale enough to be made of ivory, stood in the doorway looking back and forth as if he were lost. The black leather he wore shone dimly in the light that filtered through the cloudy windows of the church. Without the slight sheen, it might have faded entirely into the shadows of the doorway. Surely it would have compared to his light skin, and to the flowing silver hair that caught every light around it and shimmered so much it might have glowed.

A hand rested over what looked to be an awkwardly long sword, but what sent chills of dread through her- what kept her gaze stuck on him and her breath caught - wasn't the weapon he displayed so casually.

She knew very little of war and soldiers. She was nothing more than a flower girl hidden in the slums of Midgar, none of that was her business.

She knew his face all the same.

But... _hadn't the Great Sephiroth died in the war_?

Why, of all of ShinRa's forces, would they send someone like him for her?

From where she knelt, she could still see the glow of his green eyes when they turned toward her.

It felt like his gaze slowly bored into her core and froze it over.

For a few moments he stood there, watching her as a wolf might observe its future prey, not yet hungry enough to eat...but _taking note_.

He vanished with such fluidity that it seemed almost as if he'd melted away into the walls of the church like a horrifying hallucination. But...she still felt cold. She felt too shaken for it to have been an image projected by the planet. Though he left her alone after all (she must not have been the prey he sought) she felt no less drained for it.

She pressed her hands to her face and gave a soft sigh. Perhaps tending the rest of the flowers would wait. The serenity that came with the church was, for now, utterly depleted.

 _& FF7&_

The day passed without incident.

Her nerves felt a little raw from the day before...but whatever strange brush with darkness she'd experienced, it had moved on, continued to more important things. A flower girl was simply not worth thinking about for long. She'd learned that long before, and it was among her greatest assets when surviving in slums where the monsters that roamed the empty alleys were not the most dangerous thing she could encounter.

Footsteps echoed off the walls of the church, the only sound that morning. She tried to will up the strength to hum, but it simply refused to surface. It would be better once she could return to tending the flowers. The planet would revitalize her...and more importantly, brush away the lingering worry over the ghost of a man who'd frozen her the day before.

Someone trampled the flowers along the outer ring. Clearly the Turks had come to see if she were here after she'd left. How very typical of them to take the opportunity to abuse her flowers. She pursed her lips in annoyance and paid attention to those first. Ruining the only flowers in Midgar fit rather well with the way the Turks tended to behave. It absolutely didn't mean that she wouldn't lecture them at length the next time they spoke.

Light shone on the yellow petal in her hand, and cool metal lay against her shoulder and neck. Self preservation alone kept her from starting and cutting herself open on it.

Fleeting calm drained away into dread.

"How unusual to see flowers blooming among death." The voice that rumbled out of him nearly startled her as much as the blade at her neck. His features were delicate and yet it sounded deeper than any of the Turks she'd met. Every part of him emanated the coldness of the grave. His voice felt...warm. She mistook none of it for friendliness, but there was a warmth to his voice that shattered the stories of a heartless warrior that sliced through armies without a word.

Of course...he _did_ have a sword to her neck, so a human voice only went so far in reassuring her.

"They..." She spoke slowly, careful to mind the blade that could slice through her far more easily than an army. "They only bloom here." And in her garden, but she had a greater part to do with that. These flowers bloomed naturally in the church - life demanding to exist even when ShinRa drained it from all they could touch.

"How unwise." She probably went a little crazy from fear, but something in his voice felt amused. "Haven't you heard stories of what I do to liars?"

To...liars...? She wanted to turn her head, to look up at him in the hope of _understanding_ him. But...seeing that cold face of his again would do little for her nerves, and nerves did little for her life expectancy.

"And to those who stay out in empty streets at night. Those who refuse to eat, and those who fail their chores." The blade trembled slightly, and then a lilting sort of laughter broke out behind her. It was...disconcerting, under the circumstances. "Perhaps I will make good on all of their promises one day for them."

She struggled not to speculate on her chances of survival. As long as she had her wits, she would find some way to survive. Surely.

The blade vanished.

"You will do for now. If you would like to live, follow after me."

She turned once she heard his footsteps moving away. "Follow _after_...?"

"Or don't." He walked calmly. Collected. "Then I'll choose another."

Choose another...

Another what?

He didn't wait for her to ask any further questions, though. He walked with complete confidence that she'd choose to follow after him, as if there were no chance he'd need to turn back around and make good on his threat. Then...it wasn't as if she had any interest in dying. Maybe he had every reason to be confident, under the circumstances. She might be a little annoyed later, once she was out of imminent danger.

She sighed softly and stood, following after him. She usually felt that she walked lightly - with years of sneaking around the slums and lots of practice running. His steps managed to make no sound at all, and by comparison it seemed as if she were storming through broken glass with each step.

He remained silent as he walked, and faded into every shadow he passed. If she weren't sure she would feel _something_ she would have suspected he was using some kind of materia to do so. But then...perhaps this truly was how the elite champion of ShinRa's forces behaved. And more importantly...was he taking her in? Because if that was the case, she needed to find a way to escape, even if it endangered her life.

A can rattled in a nearby alleyway, and a familiar scraping followed. He showed no response. Perhaps because the dangers of the slums were unfamiliar to those who lived in the light. Perhaps. Either way, she might not have another opportunity, and she refused to walk easily into the arms of ShinRa. Even escorted by the deadly destroyer of Wutai.

One of the creatures that inhabited the slums burst out from the shadows, and she sprinted away.

No matter how skilled he was, she knew the slums better than anyone who didn't live in them, and once she returned home, the concentration of the planet there would protect her from any outright attack. However long it took for them to give up...she would just have to wait. At least until they had better things to send their Sephiroth to do. Perhaps after...perhaps it would be time to leave? To go somewhere new, under an open sky without security.

She ducked behind a building to avoid a prowling creature. Fighting right now would draw attention to her.

She slumped against the wall, gasping for breath about as quietly as she could. So...maybe she was used to running around...but not _that_ used to it. The Turks rarely chased her far, as long as they were sure they were herding her back where they wanted her to be. She hadn't been quite so worried before, either. At least not so long as she'd had normal memories and thought processes.

Since a small child, she'd never been so disturbed.

The sound of the creature around the corner finally faded, and she turned to leave at a more relaxed pace, forcing her breathing to calm.

She very nearly pierced herself with the blade in front of her.

"Such a surprising choice to make."


End file.
